If you stopped by Bound’s office in London, you’d see this photo-shopped picture of Jack Bogle hanging on the wall.

jack bogle currency hedging

It’s a little irreverent. We know that. We intend no disrespect. On the contrary, this is our style of praise. We’re big fans. 

Who is Jack Bogle?

Jack Bogle is the founder of Vanguard and generally credited with popularising the index fund for stock investors. Few of us probably think about this now, but it was only 30-40 years ago when people started investing widely via index funds and ETFs.

Before that investors needed to pick stocks themselves - read the news, peruse some quarterly reports and form an opinion on which companies and industries are on the rise. Or maybe investors would hire an advisor or fund to help them pick stocks or completely manage their investments for them.

Today, millions of investors collectively invest trillions of dollars into tools that are specifically designed to avoid the alchemy of picking winning stocks. These tools are generally low-fee, automated products that optimise for wide market exposure and auto-adjust themselves for diversification, rebalancing, etc.

These tools preach a simple gospel: If you’re not a professional investor, don’t try to pick stocks. Adjust a few settings then automate a simple, long-term-focused investment strategy. Keep it simple. Just put your money in. Pay a small fee. Let the thing run for the next 10-20 years. Whatever you do, don’t pick stocks.

Equity investing best practice in-a-box.

So, why do we love Jack Bogle so much? 

We view what we’re building for corporate treasury/finance teams to be analogous to what index funds and ETFs did for stock market investors. 

Today, treasury/finance teams  have have 2 choices:

  1. Ignore currency risk. Think of exchange rates as externalities and pretend that there is nothing to be done. If significant rate swings can’t hurt your business, then this may be a reasonable approach. However, for the companies we work with, adverse movements in exchange rates could mean thousands or millions in lost revenue or rising costs. 

  2. Be a Rate-Picker. This looks a lot like stock investing 50 years ago. Read about interest rates. Analyse the economic outlook of the European Union. Listen to sentiment clues in US Federal Reserve announcements. Maybe consult with your bank or a currency broker - because they know where rates are going to go ;)

  3. Bound is the 3rd choice: currency conversion and hedging best practice in-a-box. Low fee, automated, simple, optimised. Set a few reasonable settings based on your risk tolerance. Input numbers into the Bound app. Don’t try to pick rates. Most importantly, make those foreign cash flows more stable and predictable so you don’t have surprises in your finances because of exchange rates.

The analogy isn’t perfect, but we draw a lot of inspiration from Mr. Bogle. 

One thing is for sure. We believe that 40 years from now, finance teams will look back and say, “I’m glad I don’t have to manually try to pick rates and time the currency markets” just like many of us feel today about having to pick investments and time the stock market.

Stay up to date with insights and events

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Recommended articles

Recommended articles

Stay up to date with insights and events

Enhance your finance skills by learning from our network of top industry experts

Currency hedging technology with unrivalled speed and flexibility

Copyright @ 2024 Bound

All testimonials, reviews, opinions or case studies presented on our website may not be indicative of all customers. Results may vary and customers agree to proceed at their own risk.

Bound (Bound Rates Limited) is a limited company registered in England & Wales under number 13036275 with registered offices at 16 Great Chapel Street, London W1F 8FL

Bound Rates Limited (FRN 966723) is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as an Investment Firm.​

For clients based in the European Economic Area, payment services are provided by CurrencyCloud B.V.. Registered in the Netherlands No. 72186178. Registered Office: Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 296 - 298, Mindspace Nieuwezijds Office 001 Amsterdam. CurrencyCloud B.V. is authorised by the DNB under the Wet op het financieel toezicht to carry out the business of an electronic-money institution (Relation Number: R142701).

Payment services in the United States are provided by Visa Global Services Inc. (VGSI), a licensed money transmitter (NMLS ID 181032) in the states listed here. VGSI is licensed as a money transmitter by the New York Department of Financial Services. Mailing address: 900 Metro Center Blvd, Mailstop 1Z, Foster City, CA 94404. VGSI is also a registered Money Services Business (“MSB”) with FinCEN and a registered Foreign MSB with FINTRAC. For live customer support contact VGSI at (888) 733-0041.

For clients based in the United Kingdom and rest of the world, payment services (Non MIFID related products) are provided by The Currency Cloud Limited. Registered in England and Wales No. 06323311. Registered Office: Stewardship Building 1st Floor, 12 Steward Street London E1 6FQ. The Currency Cloud Limited is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 for the issuing of electronic money (FRN: 900199).

Stay up to date with insights and events

Enhance your finance skills by learning from our network of top industry experts

Currency hedging technology with unrivalled speed and flexibility

Copyright @ 2024 Bound

All testimonials, reviews, opinions or case studies presented on our website may not be indicative of all customers. Results may vary and customers agree to proceed at their own risk.

Bound (Bound Rates Limited) is a limited company registered in England & Wales under number 13036275 with registered offices at 16 Great Chapel Street, London W1F 8FL

Bound Rates Limited (FRN 966723) is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as an Investment Firm.​

For clients based in the European Economic Area, payment services are provided by CurrencyCloud B.V.. Registered in the Netherlands No. 72186178. Registered Office: Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 296 - 298, Mindspace Nieuwezijds Office 001 Amsterdam. CurrencyCloud B.V. is authorised by the DNB under the Wet op het financieel toezicht to carry out the business of an electronic-money institution (Relation Number: R142701).

Payment services in the United States are provided by Visa Global Services Inc. (VGSI), a licensed money transmitter (NMLS ID 181032) in the states listed here. VGSI is licensed as a money transmitter by the New York Department of Financial Services. Mailing address: 900 Metro Center Blvd, Mailstop 1Z, Foster City, CA 94404. VGSI is also a registered Money Services Business (“MSB”) with FinCEN and a registered Foreign MSB with FINTRAC. For live customer support contact VGSI at (888) 733-0041.

For clients based in the United Kingdom and rest of the world, payment services (Non MIFID related products) are provided by The Currency Cloud Limited. Registered in England and Wales No. 06323311. Registered Office: Stewardship Building 1st Floor, 12 Steward Street London E1 6FQ. The Currency Cloud Limited is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 for the issuing of electronic money (FRN: 900199).

Stay up to date with insights and events

Enhance your finance skills by learning from our network of top industry experts

Currency hedging technology with unrivalled speed and flexibility

Copyright @ 2024 Bound

All testimonials, reviews, opinions or case studies presented on our website may not be indicative of all customers. Results may vary and customers agree to proceed at their own risk.

Bound (Bound Rates Limited) is a limited company registered in England & Wales under number 13036275 with registered offices at 16 Great Chapel Street, London W1F 8FL

Bound Rates Limited (FRN 966723) is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as an Investment Firm.​

For clients based in the European Economic Area, payment services are provided by CurrencyCloud B.V.. Registered in the Netherlands No. 72186178. Registered Office: Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 296 - 298, Mindspace Nieuwezijds Office 001 Amsterdam. CurrencyCloud B.V. is authorised by the DNB under the Wet op het financieel toezicht to carry out the business of an electronic-money institution (Relation Number: R142701).

Payment services in the United States are provided by Visa Global Services Inc. (VGSI), a licensed money transmitter (NMLS ID 181032) in the states listed here. VGSI is licensed as a money transmitter by the New York Department of Financial Services. Mailing address: 900 Metro Center Blvd, Mailstop 1Z, Foster City, CA 94404. VGSI is also a registered Money Services Business (“MSB”) with FinCEN and a registered Foreign MSB with FINTRAC. For live customer support contact VGSI at (888) 733-0041.

For clients based in the United Kingdom and rest of the world, payment services (Non MIFID related products) are provided by The Currency Cloud Limited. Registered in England and Wales No. 06323311. Registered Office: Stewardship Building 1st Floor, 12 Steward Street London E1 6FQ. The Currency Cloud Limited is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 for the issuing of electronic money (FRN: 900199).